Hepatitis B virus (HBV) remains a major public health problem. There are 350 million chronic carriers worldwide, and there is no effective therapeutic treatment. While a recombinant subunit vaccine is available, approximately 10% of the immunized population are vaccine non-responders. In fact, a 5-10% vaccine failure rate is observed worldwide. Substantial progress in the basic science in HBV molecular biology and immunology has been made over the past decade; however, our progress can be more rapidly advanced by the development of an in vitro infection system, by a better understanding of' the mechanisms of chronicity and hepatocarcinogenesis, as well as by elucidating the functional significance of naturally occurring HBV variants and the role of several mysterious viral proteins. The proposed conference, distinct from clinically-oriented meetings, is intended to gather about 200 scientists, studying different aspects of HBV and related animal model viruses, from basic molecular biology to immunology and pathogenicity, for joint discussion of the latest conceptual and technical advances. Held annually since 1985, the 2002 HBV Meeting will be organized by Drs. Chiaho Shih and Volker Bruss; they will be assisted by a panel of expert HBV scientists acting as chairpersons for 12 lecture and two poster sessions. Plans to involve more women and minorities in leadership positions will be emphasized again in 2002. In addition, three workshops are planned: 1) one will be dedicated to the topic of career development for junior investigators; 2) the second will focus on mysterious proteins, such as e antigen and preS2 envelope proteins; 3) the third will be dedicated to hepatocellular carcinoma, (HCC), with an emphasis on important issues often overlooked by molecular biologists. The topics of the oral session will include: transcription; replication; structural proteins and receptors; regulatory proteins; hepatocellular carcinoma; HBV variants, hepatitis delta virus; and persistence, pathogenesis, prophylaxis and therapy, and immunology. Each session will be comprised of 4-8 talks, selected from submitted abstracts peer-reviewed by the chairpersons. In addition to presentations by senior investigators, younger scientists will be particularly encouraged to participate in the lecture and poster sessions. Finally, two keynote speakers will be invited to lecture on the biology of liver stem cells and liver regeneration, as well as on the structural biology or cell biology closely related to the hepadnavirus family. HBV, hepatology, and liver cancer are major topics in the research mission of NIAID, NIDDK, and NCI, and this is the only annual HBV meeting of its kind.